Wow, I actually care enough about this subject to log on and make a post...
If you have never had the numbers 11 or 03 attached to your name, shut the fuck up, no one gives a fuck about your opinion (unless you are a leg-ass general looking to punch his political card like Dempsey (how the fuck did he get his CAB anyway?))
The idea that the standards will should not be lowered would be fine if the Military did not already have lower standards for females.
Combat ain't the place for your bullshit social experiments. Weakness gets you fucking killed.
I weigh 190lbs, my combat vest weighs 95 lbs, on my back toss another 20-45 lbs. I have full faith in my buddies to be able to drag/carry all 285 lbs of me+vest back to an LZ.
Physical fitness and a tendency towards violence is what will keep you alive. You had better be mentally and physically ready to punch some enemy fighter in the head until he dies.
And then assault some other objective.
2 plus weeks in the field with out a shower is pretty regular.
Sex, and porn, is a big part of the culture. It is a male culture. Walk into any squad bay, and you will see more porn than you thought existed. Gals better be willing to put up with that, and NOT put up any pictures of DUDEs. That ain't cool. We go from talking about sex positions, to politics, and on to how various gals pussies tasted in a matter of minutes.
Females are currently a protected class in the military, you can hardly talk to them without putting your career on the line. In the past, anytime someone has stood up for what is right and barred a gal from completing a course for failure to meet standards, that person has usually found themselves with an EO violation and early retirement, while the shitbag female gets promoted.
This is dumb, and the result of careerist officers and politicians who are more interested in power point slides and OER bullets than combat effectiveness and national defense.
Again, if you don't have an 11 or 03xx qualification (or 18 and 19 I guess), your opinion is worth less than the shit I took earlier today, and you are probably a total fuckstick of worthlessness any way.
-cobra